Mullagh branch expresses ‘outrage’ over IFA election

Damian McCarney
At the Hotel Kilmore

Mullagh branch of the IFA has branded the recent election of the chair of the county executive as “unfair” in a scathing letter addressed to the county executive meeting. In further developments the rules committee at national level has confirmed that they will investigate the conduct of the election after a complaint was lodged by Mullagh’s Elizabeth Ormiston.
Ms Ormiston lost out in a tightly fought contest held at the January meeting of the IFA executive committee, in which Jim Spears was elected as Jim O’Rourke’s successor. While Ms Ormiston had voiced her grievances about the conduct of the election in this paper in recent weeks, the tension at Wednesday’s county executive meeting was tangible when a letter of support penned by her branch was read aloud to the 100-plus members by executive secretary, Richard Moeran.
According to the letter, the branch had unanimously agreed to register with the county executive their “outrage” at the manner in which the election of the county chair was conducted. The letter was proposed by John Sheridan at a branch meeting held on March 3, and seconded by Liam Daly.
The letter read: “Members present were astonished at the unfair way our esteemed member Elizabeth Ormiston was treated. A serious question over the eligibility of members on the voting register should have been addressed before lunch time on the day of the election.
“We are all aware of the four year rule concerning branch officers, however we have taken issue with the selective use of that rule on the night of the elections, i.e. some members outside the rule were disqualified while others were allowed to vote. We find it inexcusable how an updated and accurate register of voters was not made available to the candidates at least 10 days before the elections.”
The Mullagh branch letter contends that when there was “uncertainty over the eligibility of members on the voting register” that in the “best interests of fairness” the elections should have been postponed for a month. The letter added that this had been suggested “earlier that evening”.
The letter continued: “Furthermore we think that a person who works for IFA should be neutral during election campaigns, and on the night of the election we feel all members of IFA should be treated equally by employees of IFA.
“It is with regret that Mullagh IFA branch find it necessary to raise these issues, but we feel that in the interests of Cavan IFA going forward the amateur way in which the elections were conducted can never be repeated.”
“We appreciate that this is a sensitive issue,” James Spears told the 100-plus IFA members attending the meeting. “We’ve only received this letter literally from when we set up here, and we’ve spoken just among ourselves about it.
“It is going to have to be dealt with; it’s going to have to take a lot of consideration, to read through and discuss.”
Postponing a discussion on the matter until the April executive meeting, Mr Spears said that a discussion on the topic may cause disruption to the meeting when there was a busy schedule, alluding to the various committee and the attendance of guest speaker Justin McCarthy.
Elizabeth Ormiston and the previous Cavan county chairman, Jim O’Rourke, who acted as returning officer at the disputed count, were both in attendance at Wednesday night’s meeting, but neither said anything from the floor.
Meanwhile Bryan Barry national secretary of the IFA Rules Committee wrote to Ms Ormiston to confirm that their intention to investigate the issue. It will be raised at the Rules Committee’s next meeting, for which a date has yet to be scheduled.
“I’m delighted that Mullagh branch has rowed in behind me in highlighting this wrong doing,” Ms Ormiston told The Anglo-Celt. “The issue is under investigation by the Bryan Barry of the Rules Committee and I’m confident that the truth will come out.”